…and Other Unlikely Places

Screenwriting Quote #189 (Darren Bousman)

“I want to do things that are very outside of the box, and I want to do movies that no one else can do. If someone else can make the movie that I’m making, then I shouldn’t do it. I want to make these films that I think other people would be scared to do. I don’t think anyone can go off and make a rock opera. I think it’s a very specific niche, with what it actually takes to do one of these things. For me, I’m very proud of the fact that I can actually say that I’m the guy who can do that. When is the last time that these types of things were released? It was back in the ‘70s. There was Jesus Christ Superstar,Tommyand The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That was the last time these things were put out. Now, in a couple of years, I’ve gotten two of them put out. So, they’re not for everyone, but they’re for me.”Writer/Director Darren Lynn BousmanCollider interview with Christina Radish

One of those rock operas (Repo! The Genetic Opera) was panned by the Los Angeles Times, but years later The Hollywood Reporter said the movie, “Could become the next Rocky Horror Picture Show.” A niche market for sure, but remember the advice of Tyler Perry to Edward Burns about , “Super-serving your niche.”

P.S. At Stephen Susco’s Full Sail Q&A last week he gave a shout-out to Bousman (director of Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV) who in 2011 was inducted into the Full Sail Hall of Fame. Here’s a bonus quote by the writer/director originally from Overland Park, Kansas:

“I didn’t have Hollywood connections, I didn’t know anybody, I just refused to take no as an answer. One of the most important things about being a filmmaker is that you have to believe in yourself. There are two types of people when you get out into the entertainment industry, those who wait for that knock at the door, and those that go out and kick it open. I was one of those guys who kicked it open.”
Darren Lynn Bousman

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